Fifty Failed Dates
by UnamedFreak
Summary: Amidst renewed terrorist attacks in Midgar, Reno and Elena attempt to develop some semblance of a relationship. Sort-of sequel to "Lost: Northern Crater Edition". Reno/Elena.
1. Forget it, Jake It's Chinatown

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Notes: Here it is! The sequel (sort-of) to "Lost: Northern Crater Edition".

It would have been up a lot sooner but real life kept me pretty busy. I was also trying to get rid of some other plot-bunnies before dedicating my full-time to this.

You don't _need _to read "Lost" to understand this, but it will be a pretty good background on the Reno and Elena dynamics because in this fic, I shall be expanding on that. This fic is pushing more towards action/adventure/romance than humour/romance. But don't worry, there will always be humour!

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!

* * *

_Thump!_

"I am bored," Reno said in a sing-song voice. He caught the tennis ball with one hand and bounced it against the wall again.

_Thump!_

Catching the ball, he adjusted his position on the cushy leather couch and threw it onto the wall beside Elena's desk. "What'cha doin'?"

_Thump!_

Elena mumbled incomprehensibly behind a mountain of paperwork (literally). Although her hands were typing furiously on the keyboard, her eyes were glazed over as if she was in a trance.

_Thump!_

_Bang!_

The sound of gunshot could be heard all throughout the hallways of the 60th floor.

* * *

Reeve's new secretary, a pretty young redhead, nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the gunshot. Honed by years of living in the slums, her instincts led her under her desk for cover.

A few terse moments passed and she hears someone rapping on her table with their knuckles, as if beckoning her to come out. She cowered in her three-inch stilettos and stayed put.

"Anyone here?" the familiar, silken voice called out. It had a calming effect to it. The secretary sighed in relief and crawled out from her hiding place.

Her boss stared at her with a bemused expression.

Suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her appearance, she brushed the imaginary crease out of her skirt and smiled sheepishly.

Mustering as much confidence as she can, she greeted her boss, "Mr. Reeve, sorry about that. I heard a gunshot coming from the office down the hall."

To her surprise, instead of chastising her, Reeve smiled kindly and shook his head.

"Oh. That. That was just another day in the office."

* * *

Reno stared at his mutilated tennis ball mournfully.

"I can't believe you shot my toy!" he protested in a whiny tone.

Beside him, Elena tucked her handgun back into her holster and turned back to her computer screen wordlessly.

Picking up the charred pieces, he dumped them into the overflowing rubbish bin and grumbled, "Just because Reeve stuck you on paperwork duty for your injury doesn't give you the right to destroy my belongings."

Frowning at the filled bin, Reno shrugged and jammed his foot into the mess to make more room. When satisfied with the efforts, he wiped his shoes on the carpeting in the office and walked to Elena's desk.

"Why are you so hung up on the paperwork anyway?" he said, looking over Elena's shoulders at the computer screen.

He had to squint his eyes to read the words that were appearing rapidly on the screen. "Elena," he said in a concerned voice, "Are you even reading the words that are showing up on the document?"

As if woken up from her trance, Elena's fingers stopped and she blinked several times before turning her attention back to her report.

None of the words and sentences made sense. It looked as though someone had just meshed their fingers on the keyboard at random intervals to produce the document.

The evidence of the hours and hours of painstaking work disappeared.

Elena stood up calmly and reached for her gun.

Prodding her shoulders nervously, Reno called out softly, "Oy, Elena."

She doesn't reply him. The only reaction he got from her was a slightly maniacal smile that was appearing on her face as she removed the safety.

"Okay then," he said uneasily and tried to move out of her way as inconspicuously as possible.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

* * *

The second gunshot after a period of silence startled Reeve. He looked up at the closed door of his office (just in case) and when he was sure it is just one of the many strange explosions coming from the Turks' office, he continued going through is contracts.

"Damn," Reeve muttered when he saw that he'd drawn a line across one of the papers out of shock.

_Bloody Turks._

* * *

The second casualty from Elena's rage that day was her computer on the desktop.

Reno whistled in admiration at the damage that she'd caused; there were three bullet holes on the monitor and the CPU was smoking.

"Alright," Reno announced, "That's it. We are going out to get a drink now before you start mass killing everyone in this building."

She gave him a look that had the words _'over my dead body'_ written all over it, hands still clenching her handgun.

Holding up his hands in front of him defensively, Reno tried explaining, "A drink with me _and _Rude of course. Not just me. It will be like team-bonding in the good ol' days."

Reno knows that the slight tilt of her head and the narrowing eyes meant that she was contemplating if he was fibbing.

He kept his face as neutral as possible.

"Fine," she finally says after a moment of deliberation.

Grinning, Reno placed a hand on her back and led her out the door. "Excellent. It's a date, then."

"Not a date."

* * *

"What d'ya want?" the waitress asked rudely, her jaws working frantically on her chewing gum.

"Could you give us another moment please?"

The waitress closed her notebook and sauntered off but not before shooting Elena a dirty look.

"Such a nice girl," Elena muttered sarcastically to herself. Reno was too busy deciding on his order to pay attention to anything that is going around.

Without looking up from his menu, Elena hears Reno ask, "What do you reckon sounds nicer? The tuna melt or meatloaf?"

"They both sound absolutely disgusting," Elena answers in a bored voice; he wouldn't be listening to her anyway.

"You are right," Reno says and waves for the waitress, "The tuna melt does sound nicer."

The waitress popped the gum in a mouth and snaps at him, "Yeah?"

Reno flashed his most charming grin. "I'll have the tuna melt and a jug of beer."

"What about you, Miss Sunshine?" the waitress asked Elena mockingly.

Forcing a friendly smile, Elena muttered through gritted teeth, "Just a cup of black coffee, thanks."

When the waitress is finally out of their sight, Elena looked around the bar impatiently.

_Hm,_ she thinks to herself, _still no sign of Rude_.

As if he could read her mind, Reno said, "Oh, Rude called after we left the office. He says he isn't coming."

Elena glared at him murderously. "Yeah, right. Did you even tell him that we were meeting up here?"

"Nope," he grins matter-of-factly.

"Of course you didn't," she says to herself; Reno fooled her…again.

* * *

"So…," Reno says with a burp as he polished up the rest of his beer, "We should talk."

Elena looked up from her trimmed nails questioningly. "About?"

"You know damn well what it's about."

Raising a quizzical eyebrow, Elena doesn't answer him but he knows that he had hit the nail in her head.

"It's about the time we made out at the hospital," he says at the top of his voice on purpose. A few bar patrons turned to look at the two of them.

A sense of satisfaction filled him when her face turned beet red.

"Shush!" she hissed.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" Reno said teasingly, "We made out and it was good."

He noted with interest that the red was not contained to her face anymore, it'd spread to her ears as well.

As he waited for her retort, he noticed a large, burly man approach their table from the corner of his eye. Elena seemed to have noticed it too because she turned her head slightly to the direction of the man.

"Hey dude," the man said before Reno could get a word out, "How's you sister?"

Reno's attention was diverted for a split second as he processed the question but his Turk reflexes kicked in when he saw the man reach inside his jacket.

The glint of the pistol butt caught his eye.

"Get down!" Reno yelled at Elena, but she'd already noticed it.

The patrons in the bar watch in horror as Elena grabbed the man's hand before he could get to his pistol and pinned it against the table with a knife from Reno's plate.

Taking her hands, Reno led Elena out of the bar. He didn't need to turn around to confirm that the heavy footsteps trailing them belonged to the man's friends.

Hand-in-hand, the two Turk ran for their lives.

* * *

"Fuck!" cursed Reno as he dived behind the dumpster to dodge the hail of bullets, pulling out his semi-automatic which he rarely used.

Elena quickly followed suit.

Reloading her gun, she fired several well-placed shots. There were a few grunts of pain and as the enemies fell.

Not as used to handling a gun as Elena, Reno's shots mostly went off-target but he had managed to take out quite a couple of people.

He squinted against the bright streetlights to count the number of attackers and he'd estimated that there were about ten still standing.

_Bang!_

_Well,_ he smiles dryly, _nine left_.

He ducked again when he ran out of ammunition and he could almost see the bullets whiz pass his head.

"Bloody hell," he mutters against the dumpster, trying to reload the cartridge as quickly as he possibly could, "This is officially the worst date I have ever been to."

"IT'S NOT A DATE!"


	2. Nobody puts Baby in a corner

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

Gunfights in the alley were common in Midgar even in the days after Meteor.

Don't ask, don't tell – is the unofficial motto of the occupants in the slum. They had learnt to deal with the gunshots by not dealing with it at all; they just closed the windows and prayed hard that it will be over quick.

* * *

"Reno, how many left?" Elena asked to the crouching red-head beside her as she fired a few more shots.

She's pretty certain that she'd took out at least half, if not more, of their attackers but their numbers didn't seem to be dwindling at all. The returning gunshots were still as persistent as ever.

Reno's head move to the side and back in a quick motion. "Shit-loads," he replies with a sardonic smile.

"Well then," she crouches back down next to him and reloaded the last magazine into her gun, "We're screwed."

"Not really," Reno says thoughtfully, "We could just throw a couple of grenades and we'd be done."

Elena shoots him a hard glare. "Do _you_ have a grenade? Because I sure don't."

"_What?_ What do you mean you don't have grenade? You always carry one!"

"Not when I am stuck on desk duty for a month!" she retorts angrily, taking out her rage on two opponents.

Reno rests his head against the battered dumpster that had been their shield and sighed. "Alright, now we move on to plan B."

"Plan B, huh?" Elena felt her mouth twitching into a smile; only Reno would want to go to Plan B in circumstances like these.

He nods silently and pulls out his mag rod.

"It's not my fault if you die," she says defiantly and Reno flashed a confident grin in reply.

"One…," they counted simultaneously. Elena takes a deep breath and tightens her grip on the gun; she would have to make every bullet count.

"Two…"

They grinned at each other.

"Three!"

Elena was the first to stand up from their hiding place and using a keen eye, she fired three simultaneous shots that took out her targets instantly. The enemies seemed startled for a moment as they tried to reorganize their ranks.

Using the split second confusion as his cue, Reno sprinted out from his cover into the darkness. He traipsed silently, utilizing the dark corners as his protection.

The first man that he took out with the mag rod didn't even know what hit him. He let out a short gasp against Reno's palms and fell forward.

Reno didn't waste any time, he knew that Elena's bullets were running out quick. The enemies were probably amateurs. He could tell by the way they shot; trigger happy but not very accurate at all.

Cranking up the voltage of his rod to the maximum, he sprinted across the enemy lines and took out his opponents with one clear hit each. When the last of the men fell, he felt a sense of satisfaction course through his body.

Reno gave a thumb's up in Elena's direction and she emerged from her spot cautiously because Turks took no chances. Once she was satisfied that their surroundings were clear, she placed her gun back into its holster.

Kicking the bodies of one of their assailants in distaste, she turned to Reno, "Who do you think they are?"

"Probably mercenaries."

_Clang!_

The two Turks turned quickly and drew out their weapons at the sound of metal hitting the ground. With trained eyes, they quickly surveyed the abandoned alley but found nothing.

Reno was the first to speak. "It's probably just a cat."

"We should probably go," Elena suggested softly, still pointing her gun towards the direction of the noise.

"Yeah."

Taking one final look at the scene of destruction they left, the two Turks made their way out into the streets of Midgar.

* * *

Reeve studied the two teammates carefully as they walked back into his office with a bemused expression. Their uniforms were dirty and disheveled and they were also emitting a slightly unpleasant odour.

"What…?"

"Well, we were out on our date…" Reno started.

"We were _not_!" Elena interrupted him and Reno flashed an infuriating grin at her.

When she ignored him, Reno scratched his chin and continued his story, "Where was I? Yes, we were out on our date and some guy just came up to us and started asking me about my sister."

Reeve raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"I know, I know, oldest trick in the book to divert your attention. But, Elena managed to pin the guy's hands onto the table before he planted a bullet in my head and we took off after that."

This time, Reeve gave Elena an approving nod and she beamed proudly.

Sticking a tongue out at her childishly, Reno narrated on, "We ran out and suddenly a whole bunch of 'em came out of nowhere and started shooting at us. It's a good thing the dumpster was nearby so we jumped behind it."

The corners of Reeve's lips twitched into something resembling a smile; that probably explained the smell.

Elena quickly took over from Reno from that point. "We started shooting back but _genius_ here," she turned her head angrily at Reno, "didn't bring enough ammo."

"I took them out in the end didn't I?" Reno said smugly.

"We would have done it a lot quicker if you bothered to equip yourself once in a while," Elena argued.

Rude spoke for the first time since they entered the office. "So how did you get out?"

The two Turks stopped arguing and smiled cheekily at each other, as if they weren't at each other's throats just a second ago.

"Plan B," Reno says,

Elena repeated with a grin. "Yup, Plan B."

Reeve had no idea what Plan B meant, but he smiled anyway. He trusted the Turks and their methods.

"So did you find out who attacked you?"

"Reno thinks that they are just mercenaries."

"Yeah, they were probably just picking a fight with the Turks," said Reno dismissively. During the days of AVALANCHE, he'd encountered plenty of people that would just approach him at a bar and tried to land a punch on him.

"Hm," Reeve clasped his hands in front of him and pondered, "Maybe. Shinra still has a lot of enemies. Well, we will assume that this is a one-off thing but if it happens again, we might have to look more into it."

"Of course," answered Reno. Reeve noticed the dangerous glint in his eyes.

_Nobody messes with the Turks_.

* * *

"It's kind of sad, really," Reno stated as he and Elena walked into the elevator together.

"It's not like you to be all sentimental after a fight," said Elena in a teasing tone.

"I wasn't talking about the fight."

"What about then?" she asked, irritated, "It's not like I can read your mind."

"I just think that it's kind of sad that we never really got to finish our date."

"Stop saying that!"

Reno ignored her protests. "Well, the night is still young anyway," he said cryptically and moved so that he was facing her.

Suddenly feeling extremely claustrophobic, she tried brushing him away but Reno caught her hand and pinned it to the elevator wall.

She eyed her trapped wrist critically. "Do anything stupid and I will shoot you."

Reno looked down at the gun she held in her other hand against his ribs and grinned; he always knew that she was a good shot. That didn't stop him from inching his face closer to hers though.

"Don't make me do it, Reno," Elena warned and dug the barrel into his ribs to prove her point.

He was an inch away and she could feel his breath against her lips.

In the final moments, the elevator came to a halt and the door opened with a 'ting!'.

"Saved by the bell," he said huskily and pulled away. He stepped next to her calmly as though nothing had happened.

Elena let out a breath of relief that she didn't know she was holding and tucked her gun back into its holster. She hurried out to her car without looking back at the red-haired man standing in the elevator.

"Your place or my place?" Reno's question echoed eerily in the empty car park.

Finally turning back to face the infuriating smile on his face, Elena gave him the coldest glare that she could muster, "In your dreams."

"Definitely," he replied with a leer.

Disregarding his answer, she slipped into her car and cursed Reno's sick mind under her breath.

At the same time, it scared her that even with the disgust she felt, she still couldn't calm the rapid pounding against her chest when she thought of him.


	3. I love the smell of napalm in the mornin

Disclaimer: None mine.

Author's notes: Someone should come up with a movie starring JUST the Turks. That would be the best thing ever.

On to the chapter! Once again, thanks for the reviews!

* * *

The explosion was deafening.

Reno wasn't exactly sure what caused it.

One minute he was having a good banter with Elena about something and the next, he found himself propelled forward by the shockwaves of the explosion onto the ground.

Instinctively, his next move was to move his arms to protect his head from the metallic debris.

_Elena!_

The thought hit him like an anvil over the head. He stood up quickly and called out after her but the only reply he received was his own voice echoing back.

It was as if his leg had come to life on its own as he sprinted through the fumes to get to her car.

He stopped short when the charred hunk of metal that used to be her car greeted his eyes and Reno felt his heart plummet to his stomach with dread.

Reno called her name over and over again as he circled the car, "Elena!"

The car was so badly damaged that he couldn't tell the bonnet from the boot.

Kneeling down, he started rummaging through the carnage for any signs of her.

"Fuck!" he cursed as he felt the hot metal burn his hands. That didn't slow him down but made him work a little faster to find her.

_Or find what little remains of her_, the little voice in his head said.

* * *

Elena woke up to a bright light that made her migraine even worst. Her ears were ringing for some reason. An attempt to move her head only made the pain in her entire body more obvious.

_What the hell happened?_

As she laid on the hard concrete floor in stillness, her fuzzy brains began to remember the events that had transpired.

The exact details were still unclear but she remembered getting into her car and Reno saying something and then there was a strange beeping sound as she started her engine. She must've thought it was a prank from Reno and got out to yell at him about it.

And then it went all black.

_Reno!_

Her eyes shot wide open when she thought of him.

Ignoring her sore muscles protests as she got back onto her feet, Elena tried focussing her blurry eyes to find Reno.

"Reno!" Her voice came out hoarse and soft. She was sure he couldn't hear it even if he was standing beside her; hell, she could barely hear herself.

When her view finally became clearer, she could see fumes about ten feet away.

Walking on wobbly legs, she started to make her way to the fumes. It felt as though every bone ache with agony in each step she took. But she steeled her resolve and continued through the blinding pain.

She'd already lost Tseng once and she didn't want to lose Reno too.

* * *

Reno hears the sirens from a distance and felt someone pulling him away from his search.

"Sir? Are you alright, sir?" The eager, young paramedic asked him but Reno pushes the boy's hands away dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, I am fine. Find Elena. She was in that car."

The paramedic hurried off to inform his other colleagues about Elena.

Around him, the scene was becoming more and more chaotic. Paramedics were rushing everywhere to find more injured victims and firemen were trying to put out flames.

Suddenly feeling the sting in his hands, he held them up into the bright parking lot lights and examined them; there were several cuts and blisters from his forage through the car wreck.

"Reno."

Even though the voice was barely audible above the sirens and other voices, Reno had no trouble recognizing it. He turned and much to his surprise, Elena was standing behind him.

Soot covered her clothes and there were cuts and bruises on her face and visible skin but she looked like she'd just been in a bar fight, not an explosion blew out an entire car into pieces.

The moment he saw her stumble, he caught her in his arms and steadied her.

"You alright?"

"I feel as though someone threw me over a cliff, picked me up, and threw me down again."

Reno chuckled grimly. "Close enough."

"What the hell happened here?" Elena asked as she studied the disastrous scene around her.

"I am not so sure myself," Reno replied, his voice filled with uncertainty, "But I think someone might be out to get us."

* * *

"Something stinks."

Reno instinctively moved his sleeves up to his nose and took a whiff.

"No, not you, Reno," Reeve explained, "Something about the explosion and the shooting at the bar just seem off."

Rude nodded in agreement on the cushy chair opposite Reno. He'd gotten back from a mission to receive news that both his team mates were involved in the explosion.

It was not a good night for Rude.

They were at Shinra's medical centre's waiting room, waiting for news on Elena's condition.

"If I find out the person that blew us up, I am going to really kick their ass," Reno said angrily, pounding his bandaged fist against his palm.

Rude sat stoically, but behind his sunglasses, his eyes were clouded over with anger.

Reeve paced impatiently around the waiting room with his hands clasped behind his back. "Who do you think would do something like that?"

"AVALANCHE," the two Turks answered in unison.

"…Besides them?"

Silence filled the room.

"To be honest, we have lots of enemies," said Reno nonchalantly.

"That's true," Reeve nodded.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter who it is though. We will get them."

_Because nobody gets away pulling a stunt like that on the Turks._

* * *

"You seem to be spending most of your time here these days," a stern voice greeted her as she woke up from her slumber.

The voice that came out of her mouth sounded foreign in her ears. "Boss."

"How are you feeling?"

She licked her cracked lips and tried smiling, but her entire face was sore so she managed a half grimace-half smile that probably made her look grotesque. "Could be better."

From the corner of her eye, Elena sees Rude standing at the entrance of her room, still as silent as ever. He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement.

"The doctor says you were pretty lucky to sustain that sort of injuries from that explosion," Reeve said, "You will be fine after a few days of bed rest and then it's back to desk work."

She groaned. "Again?"

On the chair by her bedside, she hears a loud bark of laughter.

Turning her head to the side slowly, she shot Reno the best evil glare that she could muster. "Don't make my misery your source of amusement."

"Me? Do that?" He gestured to himself, "Never!"

"Bastard," muttered Elena.

"Well, regardless," Reno shrugged off her insult, "I am glad that you didn't get blown up with that car."

This time, she did manage a smile. "You know, you are not as bad and tough as you portray yourself to be."

"Hn. Don't get too used to it though."

* * *

Reeve looked on at the two Turks bickering with an amused grin. They'd seemed to forget that he and Rude are still in the room.

"What am I now? Chopped liver?" he mutters.

* * *

The corners of Rude's mouth turned up just slightly; he didn't miss the twinkle of delight in Elena's eyes as she argued with Reno.

And if the perpetual crooked smile on Reno's face was of any indication – he was probably feeling the same way as she did.

_Just like two kids in pre-school_.


	4. Round up the usual suspects

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: AVALANCHE makes an appearance and the plot is thickens. Once again, thanks for the reviews!

* * *

All hell broke loose when the bar patrons saw three people in intimidating dark suits walked in.

Years after Meteor, the Turks still strike a chord of fear in the hearts of the citizens of Midgar.

Today, the Turks looked particularly murderous as they strode up to the bartender who was too busy wiping up some mugs to look at the commotion in the bar.

It is a weekend night in a bar after all – there is bound to be some form of disturbance.

Unknowingly, the brown haired bartender turned around and greeted her customers with a cheery smile, "Hello. What can I get you?"

Her face fell when she saw the familiar dark suits.

Tifa Lockheart was not one to be easily intimidated. She'd had her share of maniacal mad men hell-bent on destroying the universe.

So, when faced with three of the most dangerous people in Shinra, she could only feel indifference.

"Oh. It's you people. What do you want?" she questioned coolly.

The red-head with the messy attire, Reno, grinned at her and took a seat onto a bar stool. "Why so cold? Shouldn't you be serving us drinks? This _is _a bar isn't it?"

His two comrades, the bald man, Rude and the blonde woman whose name Tifa couldn't remember followed suit and took the seats next to him.

Crossing her arms on her chest, Tifa said angrily, "Quit the small talk and tell me what you are here for."

"Well," Reno said seriously, "First, someone tried to shoot us at a bar and then, they blew up Elena's car."

The blonde woman, Elena, grimaced and Tifa noticed that she had bandages on her face and hands.

Realisation dawned Tifa. "And you think it's us?"

"Well, is it?" Elena asked sternly. Tifa could see the menacing glint in her eyes.

"Of course not!" Tifa shouted defiantly, angry that the Turks would make a leap to assume that it was them.

After Reeve had rebuilt Shinra into a more legitimate company, AVALANCHE and the Turks had fallen into an uneasy truce; Tifa had even seen Rude and Reno in her bar a couple of times having a quiet drink.

"But," Tifa said in a softer tone, much to the surprise of the Turks, "I understand where you are coming from. If something like that happened to any of my friends, I would do the same thing."

Reno nodded in understanding and flashed a charming smile at her; much too charming for her liking.

"So how about that drink now huh? And maybe afterwards, we could…," Reno wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Tifa had already anticipated his attempt to pick her up and crushed a beer can with her bare hands with the most cheerful smile she could muster.

"Don't even think about it."

* * *

By the time the Turks walked out of Tifa's Seventh Haven, Reno could feel the effects of Tifa's 'special drink' but he shrugged it off easily. Behind him, he sees Elena stumble out of the bar unsteadily and while Rude stands beside her impassively.

"Right," Reno announced to the drunken Elena, "We should probably smuggle you back to your room before anyone notices that you are missing."

* * *

The doctor looked at Elena's chart with a raised eyebrow and then turned his gaze at her.

Reeve fidgeted as he waited for the doctor to pass his judgement on Elena's current condition. The deathly silence was making him nervous.

"This is strange…," the doctor muttered, flipping over the pages on the clipboard.

Reeve was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet now. "What is it?"

"For some reason, the liver function tests this morning show abnormalities."

"Eh? What sort of abnormalities?"

The doctor, an old man in his fifties, took one look at Elena and shook his head in a disappointed fashion. "Abnormalities normally seen in recovering alcoholics."

Looking at Elena's bloodshot eyes and processing the doctor's diagnosis, realization dawned on Reeve. "Have you been drinking?"

Elena remained indifferent but her face was pale.

Reeve turned his attention to the redhead sitting by Elena's bed angrily, "Did you bring her out drinking?"

"Nope," Reno replied, face completely straight and Reeve seemed to buy into his lie.

Reeve questioned Elena sternly again, "Did you…or did you not ingest alcohol last night?"

She remained silent; her face was turning paler by the minute. Reeve tapped his feet on the floor impatiently.

"Actually," she finally said; voice shaky but clear.

Reeve waited for her answer but it never came, instead, she'd turned to the side and emptied her stomach contents on the hospital floor.

Sometimes Reeve really hated his job.

* * *

"I told you so," Reno said in a sing-song voice, his leg placed comfortably on her bed, much to Elena's annoyance, "You know that your tolerance for alcohol is pretty much close to zero."

She turned her nose up haughtily and retorted, "It's the antibiotics that they are making me take. If it weren't for that…"

"Excuses…excuses."

After finding out the true cause of her abnormal test results, the doctor had subjected her to a couple more days of bed rest, much to her horror. She had been looking forward to moving out of the sterile hospital environment.

Pushing his legs off her bed, Elena shooed him out. "Get the hell out of here, Reno. You are driving my blood pressure up and if they lock me up for another day because of that, I am going to kill you."

"Aw…," Reno cooed mockingly, "And here I thought that you were enjoying some company."

She glared at him. "You are only here because Reeve told you to keep an eye on me. He now thinks that I am a closet alcoholic."

"You couldn't say no to the drink that Tifa offered, couldn't you?"

"…Because you force-fed me the drink!"

"You could have spat it out," said Reno with a cheeky grin.

Elena placed pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes resignedly, "Ugh. This can go on all night."

Leering at her, Reno opened his mouth to say something but the words came out muffled as Elena had covered his mouth with her palms angrily. "Don't say it, Reno. I can't deal with your sick jokes right now."

"Fuhn…", he said against her hands and she removed them.

"Fine," Reno repeated to make sure she heard him the first time, "But only because I don't want you to kick it before we settle everything."

"Settle what?" she asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

Pretending that he didn't hear her, Reno got up and stretched his weary limbs. "Boy, I am tired," he yawned unconvincingly, "I am going to hit the bars now. See ya'."

"Hey! You haven't answered my question, you sneaky bastard," Elena called out but he already had his back turned and halfway out the door.

Without meeting her eyes, he gave her a mock two finger wave and answered her cryptically, "Oh you'll see…"

* * *

Pain-killers and antibiotics always gave her odd dreams ever since she could remember. This occasion was no different.

Elena had dreamt about chasing a purple dragon all through the night and when she got sick of doing that (her dream-legs were dream-sore) so she willed herself to wake up.

She woke up feeling groggy and more tired, as though she have not slept at all. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the dark shadow leaning against the wall behind her room door.

"Hello," the deep, masculine voice greeted her and she instinctively went for her gun under her pillow. The voice was unfamiliar and had a dangerous edge to it.

_Shit!_

She had forgotten for a moment that she was in a hospital and hospitals don't normally allow guns.

"Reno? Is that you? I am going to kick your ass for scaring me like that."

The figure did not answer her. He shut the door quietly and locked it before turning back to her. She could see the almost maniacal glint in his eyes.

"Hey…what are you…?" before she could get her full question out, she felt the cool surface of a pillow covering her face.

Warning bells went off in her head and her Turk training kicked in. She kneed the man in the groin and he hollered in pain.

Elena could feel his grip on the pillow weakening significantly. She rolled out of her bed and hit the floor with a thud. When she regained her bearings, she quickly got up to her feet and surveyed her room with a trained eye.

Her assailant was still rolling around on the floor with agony and Elena saw that as an opening. Grabbing the lamp beside her bed, she ripped the plug out of the wall roughly and slammed it against the assailant's head with all her might.

He went still.

Reaching for her PHS in the drawer, she hit '1' on her speed dial and waited impatiently for someone to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

Elena had never been so glad to hear the voice over the phone.

Before she could get a word out, she heard someone groan and saw her assailant getting up on his feet. He didn't seem fazed by his injuries at all as he dove to tackle her.

Her reflexes were still slightly shot from her injuries and the painkillers she took so she could not avoid him on time.

Everything went black when she hit the ground.


	5. Rosebud

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Been really busy in real life lately and I haven't found as much time to write as I did with Lost: Northern Crater. I hope I am not depriving the Reno/Elena fans with the constant action/thriller/mystery that is going on.

But as I have mentioned in the first chapter, this is more of a action/adventure fic than a sappy romance because I don't do romance well.

Well, anyway, I appreciate your support and thanks for the reviews.

* * *

He heard a crash and the line went dead. Reno stood up so quick he knocked over the bar stool much to the chagrin of the bartender.

_Damn it_.

Without paying, he took off; running as hard as his legs will allow towards his car.

He dialled Rude's number and when he answered, Reno only said two words to get his point across.

"It's Elena."

* * *

_Why the hell am I still alive?_

Were the first thoughts that came into her mind when she opened her eyes.

A pair of blue eyes; glowing eerily in the dark, greeted her vision as it became clearer.

"Are you alright?" the voice was unfamiliar but kind.

Elena nodded slowly and blinked a few times to adjust her vision to the bright lights in her room.

A large (definitely male) hand was offered and she took it gingerly. The man pulled her up to her feet with a sharp tug.

After brushing off the dust on her clothes, Elena surveyed the damage in her room. Her assailant was lying motionless and his blood was pooling onto the ground.

She turned to the man to thank him for saving her, but when she finally caught a full view of her saviour, the words died in her throat.

* * *

Reno had arrived in the entrance of the hospital the exact same time Rude did. They shared a glance at each other and nodded, running through the doors towards Elena's room.

The hospital staff protests about their cars parked in the emergency room entrance fell onto deaf ears.

They didn't care about all the other people that needed saving; they just hoped they will get to Elena before anything happens.

* * *

"Strife!" Reno yelled as he charged towards the startled spiky blonde.

Grabbing hold of the man's collars, Reno slammed the ex-SOLDIER against the wall roughly.

"Where is she?" He hissed angrily, "If I find out that you touched even a single hair on her head, I am going to kill you."

For someone pinned up against the wall by a Turk, Reno noticed that Cloud seemed pretty relaxed.

"Look behind you," the blonde said sarcastically, "before you start making accusations."

Reno turned and there she was, standing behind him with her hands on her hips as though nothing had happened. She waved at him with a smirk on her lips and he knows then that she would never let him forget this incident.

"Ahem," Reno coughed, slightly embarrassed. He loosened the hold on Cloud's collar and brushed the man's shoulders lightly as though trying to get rid of invisible lint.

"So, Strife, what have you been up to lately?"

* * *

They were all positioned comfortably around Elena's bed in her new room. Reno took the chair next to her bed, Rude stood next to her stoically and Cloud leaned against the wall in front of her, arms crossed against his chest.

It was a strange sight; AVALANCHE and the Turks in the same room. Elena couldn't resist a smile at that thought.

"You want to tell us what happened just now or should I wait some more?" Reno asked impatiently, he'd waited long enough.

Elena glared at him before briefing her two team mates about how the strange man had snuck into her room, tried to smother her with a pillow and how she woke up with Cloud in the room.

Reno's eyes narrowed when she finished her story by declaring Cloud her saviour. He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially into her ear, "How do we know he didn't send that guy over?"

"I can still hear you, you know," Cloud announced from his position against the wall, "And it wasn't me."

"Why should we trust you?" Reno spat.

"Because if he was out to get me, he would have finished me off before you guys came," Elena explained exasperatedly, pushing his mouth away from her ears.

With a friendly smile at Cloud, she said to him, "Don't worry about him; he is still bitter that you managed to put him in the hospital all those years ago."

Much to Reno's displeasure, Cloud sent a smirk in his direction at Elena's comment.

"Fine. So, can you explain why you are here at the exact same time some nutjob tried to get Elena?"

"Conicidence?" Cloud said with a shrug.

"Bullshit."

"I'd actually planned to see you all. The fact that I caught that guy was a coincidence."

"You came to see us?" Elena asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I came to see you about the conversation you had with Tifa two days ago."

"We all just talked," Reno said defensively. His two team mates nodded with agreement.

"But after you all left, someone broke into the bar and destroyed everything there, so I came to ask you if you would know anything about that," explained Cloud.

This time, it was Elena's turn to protest. "It wasn't us, if that's what you want to know."

Cloud hesitated, as if debating with himself internally whether or not to continue the conversation. "That's not all they did…"

Digging into the pockets of his jeans, he pulled out a crumpled piece of yellow paper. "…They also left this."

Ironing it with his hands, he placed it on the table for everyone in the room to see. Elena felt a chill go down her spine when she saw what was on the paper.

Written in red ink was one word that would haunt them for a long time to come.

_Retribution._

* * *

Reno was the first person that broke the tense silence that transpired from the note.

"'Retribution'?" Reno scoffed, "Now that's a cliché. What the hell does that even mean?"

His attempt to lighten the mood in the room went unnoticed and only served to annoy Elena more. "Revenge, Reno. It means revenge," she said in the condescending tone that he hated so much.

Sulking like a child, he muttered under his breath, "I know what it means."

Cloud chose to ignore the two Turks and turned his attention back to the piece of paper. "It's strange how things turn out, seems like too much is going on to be a coincidence," he mused out loud.

"What do you mean?" Reno asked with a raised eyebrow.

Something clicked in Elena's head as she processed Cloud's words. "Wait. You think that whoever that might be after us is going after Tifa too?"

The blonde man remained silent but the slight nod he gave confirmed her suspicions.

"Seems like quite a stretch doesn't it?" Reno said, unconvinced, "I mean, Elena here got shot at, blown up and smothered within the last thirty six hours and all you got is a…note."

"As much as I'd hate to admit it, Reno is right," Elena agreed, much to Reno's glee, "It just doesn't seem like the guy's style to break some bottles and leave a note. He is more of a 'shoot now, talk later' kind of person."

"Oh, so we are assuming that it's a guy now?" Reno couldn't resist adding. His comments were ignored.

If Cloud was offended that his theory about the attacks was rebuffed, he didn't show it. Instead, he shrugged and said, "It's just a theory."

"Anyway," Cloud continued, glancing at the clock on the wall, "I am going to check on Tifa now. I will keep you all updated if anything else happens."

From the back of the room, Rude chimed, "I will go with you", much to the surprise of his team mates.

Reno quickly disguised his surprise with a smirk; he'd always known that Rude had a soft spot for the leggy bartender.

As Cloud and Rude was leaving the Rude, Elena called out to him, "Hey Strife!"

Cloud stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

"I owe you one," Elena said and he flashed a crooked smile at her. "This doesn't mean that we are friends though."

"Of course it doesn't," he remarked and turned to leave.

* * *

As she finally settled onto her left side to get rested, she suddenly remembered that Reno had not left the room. She turned to her right side this time and sure enough, there he was; hands behind his head and legs stretched out in front of him.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked, voice harsher than intended.

"Just making sure you don't die tonight," Reno answered matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious reason in the world.

"Oh" was the only smart reply she had to that. Squirming around to get comfortable, she turned onto the left side again. The sleeping pills the doctors gave her must have kicked in not long after that because in a few heartbeats, she was dead asleep.

…only this time she knows there will be no dreams of chasing dragons or psycho assassins in her room.


	6. Seize the day, boys

Disclaimer: None mine

Author's notes: Purely Reno/Elena chapter (except for a few bits) to reward my patient readers!

Thanks for your support so far. Enjoy!

* * *

Elena hated hospitals, she really did. There is just something about them that really puts her off. Perhaps it is the smell of anaesthetic or the horrid food or maybe it was the knowledge that death is just around the corner.

_Life is just too short_, she mused. As clichéd as it sounds, she knows that it is true.

She was alone in the room when she woke up. Not seeing Reno on the chair beside her evoked mixed emotions; half-relieved and half lonely.

The last thought surprised her as she couldn't remember a time when she actually missed his company. In fact, she wasn't sure when she had started to have Reno in her mind for a period that lasted this long.

"Look at what I've got!" Reno announced triumphantly as he entered the room, hiding something behind his back.

"Sure," Elena muttered sarcastically, still slightly annoyed that he had woken her up from her afternoon nap, "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Grinning at her, he retorted, "Of course you don't."

He pulled out a large brown paper bag from behind and rested it on the table in front of her.

Now her interests were piqued. She peered into the bag but all she could see were containers and a bottle wrapped in yet another brown bag.

"What _is _this?" she asked, holding the bottle up gingerly with two fingers.

Reno had a gleeful grin on his face as he asked her to open it. She suddenly grew very wary about the bottle in her hands.

"This isn't a prank is it?" her voice raising, "Because I am not in a mood for one."

He rolled her eyes and snatched the bottle from her. Unwrapping it quickly, he pushed it back into her hands.

"Wine?"

"Yup," he answered proudly, "Apparently it is very good."

She stared disbelievingly at the dark bottle and turned to Reno with the same look.

"You snuck alcohol into a hospital?" she hissed angrily, eyes darting to the door to make sure no one caught a glimpse of the bottle.

"Yup."

"And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

"Yup."

Elena sighed resignedly and started going through the rest of the bag. "What else do you have in here? Drugs? Bombs?"

Reno did not reply her but watched her unwrap the bag intently.

"What the…?" said Elena as she opened the first container, completely taken aback by the contents.

The cheeky smile on Reno's face grew large when he saw her reaction.

"Is that a steak dinner?" she asked, eyes opened so wide she was sure it could pop out anytime.

"Yup, you have been bitching and moaning about the food here so I bought it over to shut it up."

She eyed him critically, "Gee, Reno, you sure know how to ruin a moment."

Taking out the rest of the containers, she arranged them neatly on the table. She noticed that Reno even managed to snuggle in some proper steak knives and metal forks.

"Hang on a sec," said Elena, "There are more than one set of knife and fork here."

"Yeah, so?" Reno retorted as he took the seat on the opposite side of the table on her bed, "You think I am going to sit around and watch you eat?"

_Touché._

"Well at least take off your shoes. You are getting dirt all over the bed."

* * *

It felt like forever since she'd had real food, so even though the steak of a bit overcooked and the mash potatoes were lumpy, it tasted like heaven.

"Oh wow," she exclaimed after swallowing her first bite, "This is quite possibly the best steak I have ever had."

"Really?" Reno said thoughtfully as he chewed on his food slowly, "I think the steak is overcooked and the potatoes look kind of lumpy."

"I don't really care. It's better than the crap they serve us here," she said, one side of her mouth bulging with food.

When she'd finish, she stared longingly at the empty container and sighed. Looking across her, she saw that Reno was still halfway through his steak so he turned her attention to him instead.

Her staring did not go unnoticed. Reno finally looked up from his food and at her. He cut off a piece of steak and dangled it with a fork in front of her. He almost laughed out loud at the intent look that she was giving the meat; she reminded him of a hungry dog.

"Here," he ordered suddenly, "Open up."

And when she did it, he placed the steak into her mouth. He repeated the same sequence until his container was cleaned out.

"Man," breathed Elena, "that was satisfying."

"You know, I hear that from girls all the time. Didn't expect it coming from you."

The satisfied smile on Elena's lips turned into a grimace of disgust when she processed his words.

This time, he was prepared to duck when she threw the steak knife past his head.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want some?" Reno asked, sipping daintily on his wine, "It's really good."

Elena glanced at the dark red liquid and shook her head, "Remember the last time you have me alcohol?"

Reno shrugged and poured himself another glass.

"Why'd you bring it here anyway? You could get me into so much trouble!" Elena berated.

Silence filled the room.

"Well," began Reno tentatively as he tried to find the right words to say, "We can't have a date without some wine, can we?"

Elena promptly choked on her saliva. "Date? What date? This isn't a date!" she spluttered.

"We just had a nice dinner together with some wine," Reno said with a smirk.

"It was a TV dinner. You zapped it in a microwave and brought it here."

"Oh, and we even did the whole romantic thing that chics really dig."

"What thing?"

"I fed you food! That has to count for something," Reno said smugly and he knows he has won the argument when Elena had stopped talking.

"Hey!" she protested indignantly, "You can't trick me into a date!"

"I can and I already did," taunted Reno, "Hah!"

Elena howled in frustration.

"You know what chics usually do after a nice dinner like that?" Reno said suggestively.

Elena placed her head in her hands and muttered, "I don't want to know."

Naturally, Reno ignored her request. "They put out."

"Damn it, Reno!" Elena shouted angrily, "Stop assuming like I am like those other girls."

Reno was taken aback. He'd never seen her so insulted before. "Hey, hey. I was just kidding alright?" he said in the most soothing voice he could muster, "You don't have to put out if you don't want to."

She threw her hands up in the air at his reply. "That is not the point I was trying to make."

"What is it then?" he asked curiously, crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back to wait for her answer.

Elena bit her lip, taking on the look she always does when she is contemplating her next move. "Forget it," she finally said after a moment of silent thinking.

"Elena," Reno said, voice dangerously low, "You are doing that thing again."

She looked up at him, befuddled, "What thing?"

"The thing where you et all pissed off about something for no reason at all."

Glaring at him angrily, Elena said, "There is always a reason. You just don't give a rat's ass about it."

"Well, it's hard to give a rat's ass when I don't even know what the hell it is!" he yelled, temper kicking in.

"Fine!" she shouted back, face flushed with anger, "You want to know why?!"

He stared her down as if challenging her to tell him.

"Because I don't want to be like the other girls. I don't want to be another damn notch on your bedpost…"

Noticing his incredulous expression, she warned, "Oh don't give me that look, Reno, I have seen the notches."

"..I don't want to be just the 'blonde chic that you banged last night' and then brag to everyone in the Shinra building."

Her voice went down a notch as she finished her tirade. "I don't want to be like those girls."

He remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout her speech and when he did not say anything as the minutes passed, Elena got a bit worried.

"Do you understand now?" she asked softly (she notes that it is the first time that she had used that tone on him).

Reno's hands suddenly surged forward to hers and she felt her entire body tense up; more of fear than anticipation. But inches away, he pulled back quickly as if he had second thoughts about his actions. "Look," he said, tone apologetic (as apologetic as Reno could get), "I…"

_Bang!_

The door burst open and a doctor walked in.

The two Turks immediately move to hide the food containers and bottles. However, the doctor seem to have other things on his mind.

"Sir, Ma'am," he said, nervously wringing his hands, "There's been an emergency…"

"Come on, man. Speak up," Reno ordered impatiently, peeved that he did not get to finish what he had to say.

"We just received a call from Shinra headquarters. They reported that several explosives went off at levels sixty seven and sixty eight. It took off the entire top section of the building."

Reno and Elena shared a quick look before dashing out of the room; Elena not even changed out of her hospital robes. Whatever conversation that they had prior to the announcement was replaced by only one thought on their minds.

_Reeve._


	7. You can't handle the truth

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Well, this fic is going to be hell of a lot longer than what I have planned. I just hope that I will have the time to write it all. Don't worry though! I _will_ finish it no matter how long it takes.

Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

Midgar had not seen an attack like this on Shinra since AVALANCHE stormed into the building many years ago.

The rumours had already started; Sephiroth coming back from the dead to destroy the world…again, AVALANCHE wanting revenge and many more absurd theories.

The reporters and news station were having a field day at the scene. They were accompanied by countless fire engines and helicopters. The civilians gathered around in masses, all wanting a piece of the action.

Reno and Elena had to push their way through the crowd (Reno threatened a few people with his EMR) to get to Rude who was standing stoically in the entrance of Shinra's building.

"Where is Reeve?" Elena asked the moment she got to him.

Rude did not answer and Elena was tempted to start throttling him for answers like a madwoman.

"Here."

The familiar voice killed her urge, however.

"Boss!" Reno greeted fondly at Reeve who seemed to be non-pulsed at the building on fire, "How did you get out?"

"I didn't," answered Reeve, "I wasn't in the office. I had a meeting in Corel and just flew in when I heard about the explosion."

Reno gave his boss several hearty pats on the back. "Excellent timing as always, boss."

Reeve stared hauntingly into the blazing flames and answered, voice gone slightly shaky, "Yeah. Excellent timing."

* * *

The Turks stood steadfastly (eavesdropping) at Reeve's side as he listened to the status report from the emergency response teams.

It turns out that the point of origin of the explosion was undetermined but they think that there are several explosive devices in floors sixty seven and sixty eight. Witnesses swore they heard a few distinct explosions when they went off.

Thirty people were killed, all of them working in the two floors and countless were injured. There was a slight droop in Reeve's stiff posture when he found that his secretary was one of the casualties in the explosion.

He was quite fond of the enthusiastic red-head; so full of life.

Even the Turks, who were used to deaths and bombings (they have done a few in their service to Shinra), are sombre in the face of this tragedy.

The building burned steadily into the night.

Reno's next words summed the thought that were in all his teammates' mind. "Yup, someone is _definitely _out to get us."

* * *

"Thanks for putting up with us," Reeve greeted Tifa and Cloud cordially as he made himself comfortable on the bar stool.

"Wait… _this _is the safe places and _friends_ that you were talking about?" Reno gestured angrily at a smirking Cloud.

"Yes, Reno. Now settle down," Reeve ordered. Reno crossed his arms and sulked like a petulant child.

Reno pointed at Cloud again, displeased at their current arrangement. Reeve had assigned all of them to stay in Tifa's bar until the situation with Shinra had calmed down.

"_This _guy?!"

"You can keep saying that but it won't stop being true," Cloud said cockily.

Reno stood up abruptly, knocking over the chair that he had been sitting on. He pulled out his EMR and waved it threateningly at Cloud, hoping to intimidate the shorter, blond man.

"Reno…" Reeve called out in a warning tone, "Be nice."

Although he was hot headed, Reno listened to orders (most of the time). He grunted angrily and tucked the EMR back into his slacks. Then, he stormed out of the bar.

"He'll cool off," Elena said to Cloud.

With a clap of her hand, Tifa said as cheerily as she could, "So, shall I fix everyone here a stiff drink? I think we will need it."

"Uh…everyone except me," said Elena in a small voice.

She shuddered when she remembered the last time she had Tifa's 'special drink'.

* * *

When they have all settled on one of the tables (with the exception of Reno who was still missing), Reeve voiced out his thoughts, "Well, to state the obvious, we think someone is after Shinra…again."

Elena couldn't help glaring pointedly at Cloud and Tifa. It was almost instinctive that she had put the blame on AVALANCHE even after all these years.

Reeve sensed the tension brewing and tried to dampen it by saying to Tifa, "And we know it's not you."

"We've retired from the whole terrorist thing years ago," Tifa added defensively, looking right at Elena.

"Okay," mused Elena, "If it's not you, who else would it be?"

"You're kidding right?" Cloud said with a wry smile, "Do you know how many people you've pissed off since Shinra was established? Everybody practically wanted to kill you back then."

"Yes," interrupted Reno from the bar entrance, "But we always get to them first."

* * *

Reeve watched with amusement as Shinra's most deadly operatives pour over a piece of paper, muttering and arguing like a group of children.

"What about the Silvermans?"

"_Who_ are the Silvermans?"

"The guys that owned the small arms business that was supplying to other rebel groups."

"Oh…they are not a problem. We got them… and the groups that received their arms. President Shinra was very thorough with his orders."

After discussion about numerous organisations and individuals that have suffered under old Shinra and had the power and resources to start a rebellion, they decided that the best course of action is to list it all on a piece of paper.

Even Reeve, as a former Turk, was surprised at the large hit list that the Turks had. Tifa who was peeking over Reeve's shoulders couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face. It did not go unnoticed.

"Don't you dare judge us," Reno hissed angrily at her, "When you took down the reactors, you _killed_ our men too. Men with families."

Tifa knew that he had hit a nail in the head and did not reply. Reno took a step forward towards her and stared her down, his blue eyes glinted dangerously. "So, _don't_ you judge _us_."

"Someone is still missing from the list," a small voice interrupted. Reno turned his attention to Elena who was gripping the list with white knuckles.

"Who? I thought we agreed that this was it?"

Elena stood silently, staring at the crumpled piece of paper as if in a trance. Finally, she looked up at Reno, her eyes clouded over with memories. "There is the rebel group that rose after AVALANCHE left Midgar…the HAWKS."

"HAWKS? Who the hell were they?" Reno questioned harshly, temper still affected by the argument that he had with Tifa.

Upon hearing the name, Rude's jaw tensed up; he recognised the group very well.

"After AVALANCHE left Midgar, President Shinra received news that the HAWKS wanted to destroy the remaining reactors. We were told to eliminate them before they could attempt anything," Elena answered mechanically like she was reading off a mission file.

"Well, actually," she said with an ironic smile, "_I _was told to eliminate them."

Realisation finally dawned on Reno. The dangerous glint that he had in his eyes when talking to Tifa softened as he remembered.

Noticing that Cloud and Tifa were still at lost as to what was going on, Elena added in a shaky voice, "It was my first mission."

Rude placed a hand on her shoulders as a comforting gesture. Elena looked up at him gratefully.

"I thought that you got them all?" Reno pressed on. He was never one to go for subtle words.

"Just the leader," Elena explained and after a moment of hesitation, "…and his family."

She was interrupted by Tifa's soft gasp.

"President Shinra thought that if we eliminated the leader, it would serve as a good enough warning to the rest of the group," Elena continued, looking down at her feet. "And it did work because we never heard from them again,"

"I guess we have our first suspects," Reno said tentatively, eyes not leaving Elena's.

* * *

That night, Elena could not sleep. The images that she had suppressed in her memories came back to haunt her. She sat on the steps of Tifa's bar and stared blankly at the empty streets.

She closed her eyes and the images came flooding back. Elena remembered every sight and scent from the mission.

A warm, deep voice interrupted her thoughts. "And I thought Turks didn't have feelings."

Smiling despite the very crude joke, she greeted her companion cordially. "Strife, isn't it past your bedtime?"

He shook his head and took the empty space next to her. "Couldn't sleep," she stated simply.

"Yeah, me too."

They sat in comfortable silence. Cloud started polishing is sword and Elena entertained herself with her thoughts.

"Hey Strife," she asked, turning to look at the blonde beside her.

"Yeah?" he answered, not looking up from his task.

"You were SOLDIER First Class, right?"

This time, the hands moving along the sword stopped briefly. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"It's complicated," he finally shrugged, not wanting to go into details about Zack and Sephiroth, "But yes, I was in SOLDIER."

"So was I, you know?" Elena said with a grin.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. That's how he…Tseng…found me. I thought being a SOLDIER would prepare me for the Turks, but on my first mission…", she said. Her words died off as she closed her eyes to remember the first time Tseng approached her, the euphoria she felt when she received her first solo mission.

Polishing now completely forgotten, Cloud paid rapt attention to the woman next to him.

"And?" he coaxed.

"It was Christmas," she continued, eyes still closed as if trying to picture the events that transpired, "There were eight in all. Two adults, three teenagers and two children."

Cloud did the quick math in his head. "You said there were eight?"

"And a dog," she added. "They were having their Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, fruitcakes…the lot."

Even after all the years had gone, she can still clearly remember the smell of roast turkey and freshly baked cake. "And there I was, with my 45mm sidearm," she said, voice drifting off.

Cloud didn't need for her to tell him about what happened next.

"You know the first thing Tseng said to me after I came back?"

…covered with the blood of seven people, she added silently to her self; Strife did not need to know that detail.

"He said 'good job and welcome to the Turks'".

"Let me guess? And then, he followed that with the words 'it will be get easier'?"

Her eyes flew open at Cloud's frank statement. "Yes. How did you know?"

"Because General Sephiroth said the same thing to me and you know what?"

"What?"

He smiled grimly, "But the truth is, I don't think it ever does."


	8. This is me, forever

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Elena's backstory! Sort-of… I find her such an interesting character to write.

Once again, thanks for the reviews.

* * *

For some reason, her conversation with Strife made her feel at ease for the rest of the night. There is just something mildly comforting about being able to discuss her feelings with someone else.

As Turks, they never talk about how missions went, no matter how bad it gets. In fact, she'd spent all her early years in the Turks learning that they are not allowed to have feelings. The only time she remembered when Rude and Reno allowed themselves to show some vulnerability was after Tseng's death.

With the death of Rufus Shinra, Old Shinra went with him and so did the Old Turks (or so she'd like to think). Elena wanted to believe that they were different now compared to the calculating, killing machines that they were before.

Or at least, she'd want to try to be something different.

* * *

With the help of Cloud (he claims it's because he has nothing better to do), the Turks had managed to track down surviving HAWK members. Shinra still kept files on the Turks' old enemies in its basement. From the files, they traced the current addresses and worked from that angle.

They realised that the rebel group had disbanded when their leader died; most of the group members were slum kids looking for an adventure. After the years passed, the surviving members had moved on with their lives, HAWK long forgotten. When the Turks came knocking on their doors with questions, most of the ex-members were extremely surprised. Some even had to be reminded that they were once a member.

The last person they questioned had suffered from massive brain damage due to all the drugs he'd taken in his youth. He could barely form a coherent sentence so they crossed him out of the list pretty quickly.

"So, eleven down, one more to go…," Elena said, riffling through her folders.

Reno kicked a stray pebble on the street to quell his rising boredom; he hated detective work. "Who have we got next?"

"Alus Reinhardt," Elena read out from the piece of paper in her hands, "Twenty five. He lives in Sector Eight, which is just around the corner from here. He was one of the more senior members of the group, having joined them when he was sixteen."

"Sixteen, huh?" Cloud mused, "We all do stupid things when we were sixteen. I bet you none of us thought that it would come back and bite us in the ass ten years later."

"Shut up, Strife," muttered Reno grumpily; he still did not trust the spiky haired man.

Elena turned the corner that led them to a small, tidy hut. She stopped at the doorstep and knocked on the door curtly.

Alus Reinhardt was a pale man with ginger hair. The moment he caught side of Elena, his mouth contorted in anger and he tackled her onto the ground as he yelled, "You bitch!"

Everyone else was caught off-guard by the thin man knock who knocked a Turk off her feet.

She hit the ground with an "Oof!" but recovered just in time to dodge Alus' knifepoint. When he missed, Alus let out a scream that resembled a warcry.

The knife had embedded itself on the bed of soft soil inches away from her earlobe. Alus moved to pull out the knife but he was too slow. Elena grabbed his wrist and twisted it sideways. Losing his balance, Alus started to tilt to the right side.

Elena used the momentum to roll him onto his back and while still straddling him, she pulled his knife from the ground and pressed it against his neck. He screamed in frustration and started to thrash around; trying to throw Elena off him but the knife on his carotid artery quickly stopped him from doing so.

Seeing that it was safe to proceed, Rude and Reno pulled the boy up by his collars and held his arms around his back.

Elena stood up and brushed the dirt out of her clothes; mind still trying to process the events.

"Okay, you piece of shit, you want to tell us what this is all about?" Reno asked angrily, slamming Alus' face against the walls of his hut.

Alus struggled in Reno's grip to try to break free but the red head's grip was firm. "Let me go!"

"Not until you tell us why you attacked us."

"I want to kill that bitch!" Alus' voice was slightly muffled from his position gainst the wall.

"Why?"

"Because…," Alus answered softly, "…she murdered my fiancée."

* * *

It was the first time Cloud had witnessed an interrogation conducted by the Turks, suddenly feeling lucky to not have gone through the same thing when he was captured by Shinra.

The Turks looked particularly intimidating and Cloud now understands why they dress in dark blue suits and wears their sunglasses indoors.

Alus was seated in the centre of his own living room, hands and feet bounded securely. Despite the circumstances, he looked calm.

"So, Alus," said Reno in a menacing voice that Cloud had not heard before, "Tell us about your fiancée."

A look of nostalgia passed onto his face as Alus remembered the girl he loved. "I met Cassandra at her father's recruitment drive. She was the most beautiful girl…"

"Recruitment drive?" Elena interrupted. She was seated on the edge of the dining table, arms crossed casually around her chest.

At the sound of Elena's voice, Alus attempted to get up but Reno shoved him roughly and prodded him with the mag rod. Alus screamed in pain as he felt the electricity course through his body.

"Answer her question. What recruitment drive?"

Alus glared Elena, eyes filled with contempt. "They were recruiting members to join HAWK. Cassandra's father was the leader."

"Then what? You decided to join a terrorist organisation to impress a girl? you expect us to believe that bullshit?" Reno mocked with a bark of cruel laughter.

"NO!" Alus thundered, "It wasn't like that. HAWK is not a terrorist organisation like AVALANCHE. We never wanted to hurt anyone."

"What about the plans to destroy the Mako reactor? You don't think that it will hurt anyone if you blew it up?"

Cloud flinched slightly at that question; it brought back unpleasant memories.

Alus was seemingly confused when he answered Reno's question. "Plans to do what? We never made any plans to do that!"

"We received news from our sources that your leader had plans to do that."

"No, there were no plans like that," he denied angrily, "It must be one of those lousy slum kids bragging about it. They do things like that all the time to try to impress the girls."

"I see," Elena said under her breath.

Alus might not be the brightest bulb but even he could put two and two together to form a reasonable conclusion. "Is that it?" he cried out, "Is that why you killed Cassandra? Because the damn president thought that we were threatening his position based on information received from _drunks_?"

There were tears streaming freely down his face now and Cloud felt almost sorry for the boy.

"Never mind how we get our information. How did you know that she was the one that carried out the president's orders?"

The tears in his eyes couldn't hide his hatred. "I saw her do it."

Behind her sunglasses, Elena's eyes widened.

"I saw her kill them all," Alus said through gritted teeth, "I was waiting for Cassandra outside and saw her do it."

"You know she did it and yet you didn't try to stop her?"

The question made Alus sob harder. He mumbled incomprehensibly through the sobs and Reno jabbed him again with the mag rod. "Speak up!"

Voice barely above a whisper, he finally answered, "I was scared."

Reno scoffed tauntingly, "This woman here killed the love your life and you hid in the dark because you were _scared_?"

Alus looked down on the floor guiltily.

"Pathetic," spat Reno.

Something in Alus must have snapped then. "You don't think I've tried to get back at you for what you did?!"

Cloud noticed that Elena, Rude and Reno's bodies tense up.

_They got him._

"So you employed people to try to kill us? What about blowing up the Shinra building? You think that was funny?"

"What bomb? What people?" Alus said, voice filled with confusion. "I didn't hire anyone to do anything. I swore to kill you with my own hands. Hiring someone to finish the job would be a coward's way out."

Reno was losing his temper fast. "Isn't that what you are?"

Following Reno's accusation, Alus went quiet.

Cloud knew that to the Turks, that meant a confession. He had to intervene before things get out of hand; Reno was reaching his breaking point. "Calm down, Red. I don't think he did it."

"Shut the hell up, Strife!" Reno thundered.

"I tried, you know?" Alus said suddenly, as though gaining newfound courage, "For years I trailed you and waited outside Shinra with the gun in my hand. But every time I tried pulling the trigger, I couldn't do it. I kept thinking that if I killed you, I wound end up to be just like you. A _murderer_."

Elena flinched at the word; just slight enough to go unnoticed by Alus.

After that, Alus had fallen into some of trance, muttering only to himself and saying nothing to anyone else. Reno tried riling him up again to no avail.

"Forget it," Reno said in frustration, throwing his hands in the air, "He's a lost cause. Let's go."

The group had been walking for almost two blocks when Cloud finally noticed that Elena had not followed them. He turned around to go back but was stopped by Reno's iron grip on his arms.

"She has to finish it."

* * *

Alus Reinhardt did not need to look up to see who it was when he heard the door creak open. "I knew you'd be back."

_Click_.

Similarly, he could tell that it was the sound of the safety being turned off without opening his eyes.

He had resigned to his fate at the Turks' hands.

"I didn't do it," he repeated one final time.

_BANG!_

"I know."


	9. Afterall, tommorrow is another day

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Interlude-ish chapter because real life is kicking my ass and this is the best that I could come up with.

Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Elena is not normally the person that drinks their feelings away. In fact, she didn't like the taste of alcohol very much. Sure, she'd been on a few bar hopping trips with her team mates but it was only for the sake of 'team-bonding' as Reno puts it.

Tonight was different though, she thought, downing her third (or was it fourth?) shot of tequila. She made a face at the aftertaste but moved to pour another shot anyway.

She was alone in the bar. The rest of them had gone off to bed. Elena knew she would not be able to sleep and had asked Tifa for some alcohol to aid her. Ever the sympathetic bartender, Tifa had poured her a shot and left the bottle at her disposal.

Elena could already feel the effects of alcohol kicking in; she was light headed and vision was getting slightly blurry.

_Lightweight_, she berated herself.

Elena lifted her fifth (or maybe sixth) shot into the light and gave herself a toast. "Cheers."

As she prepared to down the shot, a hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her shot glass.

"Hey!" she protested, "I was drinking that."

Reno emptied the glass and grinned at her. "Not anymore."

He sighed appreciatively as he felt the liquid go down his throat. "That hits the spot."

"Whatever," Elena pouted and reached forward for the bottle. Reno swept that out of the way before she could get hold of it.

"Damnit, Reno. Stop messing around with me."

"You've had enough for the night," he said, tone uncharacteristically soft.

"Enough?" she retorted, "Never."

She grasped the empty table in front of her in an attempt to locate the bottle, but was stopped by Reno's hold on her hands.

"Enough, Elena" he repeated in a gentle voice that she'd never heard before. It made her stop and look at him.

"Okay," she finally agreed softly.

"Good," he said, patting her hands a few times and moving to sit on the chair next to her.

They didn't say a word to each other for a few minutes and Elena closed her eyes to savour the silence.

"Still can't sleep?" Reno asked after a moment has passed.

She nodded. "He told me he didn't do it," she said softly, her eyes glazing over as she remembered. The words rang in ear.

He turned to gaze at her. "I know, but…"

"…we can't take the chance," Elena finished the sentence that he started.

"It will…"

"…be better tomorrow," she said with a solemn smile, "That's what you told me."

Once again, they fell into silence. Elena had already expected that because that's what Turks do; they don't share more than they are supposed to.

The sudden weight on her shoulders however, was unexpected. She turned to her side to make sure that it wasn't a figment of her imagination.

Reno was still staring into the darkness nonchalantly as though nothing was different but she could see that his arms were wrapped around her shoulders; just as she'd suspected.

_Turks have no emotions_.

She repeated the mantra in her head but her body seemed to react on its own when she leaned against his arms; alcohol must have clouded over her judgements.

* * *

She felt his arms shift and somehow, her head was now rested comfortably between the crook of his neck.

_Turks have no emotions_.

But just for a moment, she thought, closing her eyes against the soft material of Reno's shirt, just a moment of vulnerability.

She would allow herself this moment because tomorrow it will be as if someone had hit a reset button and she will return to the way she had been (should be).

After all, tomorrow is just another day.


	10. And that's how you play Get the Guests

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Back to the main plot at last! I am sure some of you might be confused for now… but I am going to assure you that everything will tie up in the end.

Writing this fic has inspired me to play FFVII again and man, I never get sick of it.

* * *

"So, we have been through every single file on every single person on this damn list and still no breakthrough?" Reno said in frustration, throwing down the pen that he had been holding.

His comrades ignored his outburst over the past couple of days, they had attempted the perpetrators. It is a rare occurrence; normally they would get to their enemies first.

"This is bullshit," muttered Reno; he had given on his part of the research a long time ago.

Elena was the next to slam her pile of papers on the table resignedly, "I think we are at a dead end here. Most of these people aren't even alive anymore."

Cloud, who had been lurking at the back bit his tongue to stop himself from asking them _how _exactly were they not alive anymore.

"What about their next of kin?" Reeve asked. Even he looked overworked from their search. His normally neatly combed hair was unkempt and tie was undone.

The only person seemingly unaffected by all that is going on is Rude. "They are not a problem."

Cloud raised a surprised eyebrow at the bald man's words; mostly because he thought Rude was a mute.

"So this is it then? We are back to square one," said Reeve, musing his hair in aggravation.

"Maybe it's over now. They probably thought they got us when they blew Shinra up," Reno said with a shrug.

"GET DOWN!" Cloud suddenly shouted.

Everyone in the room was taken aback by the sudden outburst and took cover, purely out of instinct and training.

The moment they hit the floor, a hail of bullets went past their heads and into the bottles on the shelf.

Reno and Reeve, who were closest to the bottles had to shield their faces from the broken glass.

Reeve glanced at Reno from the corner of his eye and shouted over the sound of the machine guns, "So you still think it's over?"

The bottles exploded over their heads.

"Obviously not."

* * *

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Elena whispered hands gripping her gun tightly and eyes alert. The shooters had stopped firing when they'd received no return fire and had now infiltrated the bar.

There were six of them, all dressed in camouflage, and from the way they moved, the Turks could tell that these guys were no ordinary mercenaries.

The Turks, Reeve and Cloud had managed to regroup behind the bar counter, Tifa was nowhere to be seen.

"I guess we have to find that hot bartended first," suggested Reno after doing a quick headcount.

Rude and Cloud simultaneously shot him a glare.

"I wouldn't worry about Tifa," said Cloud with a nonchalant shrug, "She's perefectly capable of taking care of herself."

Elena peeked out from the counter to study their opponents. "I say we split and take them out. There's not many of them, we should be able to take them."

Reeve sat cross-legged, hands on his chin thoughtfully. "We can't be certain that there are more. They might be waiting."

"Oh. How about fishing?" Reno said, eyes lighting up in excitement, "We haven't used that in a while."

"There is no way in hell we are trying that," was Elena's immediate reaction to Reno's suggestion..

"Fishing?" asked Cloud quizically.

"Fishing," Reno confirmed with a nod, "We sent one of us out there to bring out the bad boys and then take them out covertly, one by one."

"Isn't it just the same as sending one of us out and covering them with our guns?"

"Of course it isn't. These guys are pros, you think that an amateur trick like that will work on them?" said Reno sarcastically, "This isn't the damn movies."

Cloud mumbled under his breath, "Smart ass."

Reno rubbed his hands together conspiratorily, "So, who's the bait?"

"Does it matter?" Cloud hissed. The discussion was taking too long and he could feel the enemy getting closer.

Shooting Cloud a look that said 'stop-questioning-our-methods-and-get-along-with-the-pogram', Reno added, "Yes. The bait has to be light on their feet and inconspicious enough to distract the enemy but not lead them to capture you."

He then glared pointedly at Elena and she protested, "Na ah. No way. The last time I did it, _you_ nearly shot me."

"_Nearly_, that's the keyword."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Cloud said exasperatedly, "I'll do it."

Reno and Elena shared a look and said, "No," in a flat voice as if it was the most ridiculous idea they'd ever heard.

"There's one other way to decide this...," Elena said, quirking an amused eyebrow.

Reno sighed resignedly. "Fine. Rock, paper, scissors..."

Cloud stared at the both of them incredulously; only Turk's would treat an ambush like a game.

"Hah!" Reno grinned triumphantly, "Rock beats scissors. I win!"

"Godamnit," Elena cursed under her breath. She stood up slowly and started to inch her way out into the darkness, Before she left, she shot Reno a stern glare. "If you shoot at me again, so help me God, I am going to freakin' kill you."

* * *

Five minutes into the plan, Cloud now understands why Turks are so good at what they do.

He squinted into the dark and barely sees the white blur that was Elena's shirt. He hears a soft thunk, as though someone had accidentally knocked over a chair.

Two of the enemy that had been roaming around must have moticed it too and they cautiously started to make their way towards the source.

Reno, who was crouching beside Cloud, started to creep out the moment he saw the men move. His movements were fluid and most importantly, silent. Cloud barely noticed that he had gone.

Shortly after Reno made his move, there is another sound in the opposite direction. This time it was the sound of light running. Cloud grinned despite current circumstances.

_She_ _is good_.

Two gunmen took the bait.

Cloud took the footsteps as his cue to go and started to stand up. However, a hand on his shoulders stopped him from doing so. He looked up at the bald Turk and was give a shake of the head in return.

For a big man like Rude, he moved very silent. And just like Reno, Cloud didn't even notice that he was gone.

Reeve was the next one to go. He was more agile than what he'd appeared to be.

_A Turk will always be a Turk_, thought Cloud. Sticking his blonde head out from under the counter, he observed that there was only gunman left.

Thud!

Well, none left, counted Cloud silently as a hand appeared out of nowhere and knocked the lone gunman out.

_Tifa_.

He'd recognise that technique anywhere.

After he was certain that all the gunmen had been disposed of, he emerged from his hiding spot to survey the scene.

The Turks and Reeve were still away doing whatever they were doing and Tifa was standing over her victim, tying him up.

Noticing Cloud, Tifa explained to him that she was down in the basement when she heard the gunshots. She'd hid herself when they came looking for her.

Cloud frowned when she let that information slip. "How many did you say were in the basement?"

"Four came down. I got three of them but this one got away."

Running through the numbers in his head, he suddenly realised that they had made a mistake in estimating the numbers. They'd assumed that there were only six in the building but they had forgotten to take into account the back entrance.

"Tifa, this isn't the one that got away."

It was too late. He heard several clicks around them and knew right away that they were surrounded.

_Aw. Crap._

_

* * *

  
_

Reno, in the process of dragging a man's prone body into the closet, stopped in his tracks when he heard gunshots fired into the roof of the building.

This was followed by a booming voice. "I know that there are still people in here, I will give you until the count of ten to show yourself or your friends will get it."

"Damn," muttered Reno.

Something had gone wrong with the plan and his teammates were jeapordised but he had no way of knowing who. But he knows that the moment he steps out of his cover, they will get him.

There were only two options, hide and wait it out or surrender.

_Leave no man behind_, the words Tseng said to him years ago played in his head over and over like a broken record.

Reno cursed his conscience and walked out of his hiding space, hands in air. He was quickly surrounded and disarmed. His eyes narrowed when he saw Elena, Rude and Reeve emerge out of their spots in a similar fashion.

Putting two and two together, he directed his view to the centre of the room where Cloud and Tifa stood, guns to their heads.

_So...Stife screwed up._

If they get out this alive, he is going to kill the spiky haired bastard.


	11. Excuse me while I whip this out

Disclaimer: Not mine

Author's Notes: Wow. Real life is really kicking my ass lately. This took a lot longer than expected but at least it's out, right? And I hope the extra-long chapter made up for the half-assed last one. This chapter is very strongly rated for Reno's potty mouth!

* * *

As always, thanks for the support!

"I am going to fuckin' kill you, Strife," Reno repeated for the umpteenth time in the day. Actually, he wasn't so sure if it was day anymore. It was dark as night in the storage space that acted as their holding cells.

After being disarmed and tied up by the mercenaries (who were incidentally second on Reno's revenge list, right after Strife), they were hauled into a van like cattle and driven into an abandoned warehouse. From there, they were separated into different cells. Tifa and Elena were in one beside Reno and Cloud while Reeve and Rude were in another room a few metres away.

Cloud rolled his eyes to high heaven at Reno's comments. At first, he did feel slightly guilty as he was the one that led them into this mess but as time passed, the comments became plain annoying.

His eyeroll served to piss Reno off even more. "Don't roll your damn eyes at me, Strife!"

Cloud never did listen to orders from people he disliked, so when Reno ordered him _not _to do it, the child in him made him roll his eyes again anyway.

Driven off the edge at that gesture, Reno pounced on Cloud and they started scuffling. Reno interjected his punches with curses so vile, Cloud actually cringed. It turns out that Reno wasn't the only hot-headed one around; the guards stationed outside their cell had enough of the squabbling duo. They fired two warning shots and pounded on the door angrily.

"Shut the hell up! If I heard another word from you two, these bullets are not going into the ceiling, they will be going into your damn brains!"

The two separated immediately; Reno smirked at Cloud's cut lip.

"Spiky headed bastard," muttered Reno, loud enough for Cloud to hear.

"Red haired moron," Cloud shot back.

There was peace for a moment and Cloud closed his eyes to savour it, leaning against the cold wall tiredly. However, he should have known it was too good to be true as it was quickly ruined by Reno.

"I think I liked you hell of a lot more when you were all fucked in the head by Sephiroth.".

* * *

"So,uh..," began Elena awkwardly, "I...like your top...", in an attempt to strike up conversation with her cell mate. They had been sitting in silence for hours now and Elena was bored.

Tifa, who had been counting the cracks in the ceiling to pass time, looked at the other occupant in the room as if she had never seen a Turk so sociable before. "Um...thanks," she answered just as awkwardly, "I...um...think your...uh...shirt is nice too."

It was a lie. Tifa had never seen a dirtier, more ill-fitting shirt than what Elena was wearing. She obviously borrowed the shirt from Reno after they left the hospital.

They fell into another stretch of silence after the exchange.

"Um...also, I like how you styled your hair," Elena said.

Tifa began to feel extremely suspicious; the question was at the tip of her tongue but she couldn't gather the courage to ask the Turk in fear of Elena murdering her in her sleep. "Thanks",  
was all she could manage.

"Yeah, it's very nice...smooth and silky," the blonde continued.

_Oh, to hell with this_, Tifa thought to herself. The two of them are going to be spending a lot of time together and Tifa did not want the blonde woman to...misunderstand anything. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

Elena's jaw dropped.

_How the hell did she jump into that conclusion?_

"What? No! Of course not."

"I mean, I am flattered if you are, but I just don't...go that way," Tifa said quickly, hoping that she did not offend the Turk.

"No. No. God, no!" Elena protested, "I am not hitting on you. I love men!"

"Um...okay, I am glad we got that out of the way."

No more words were being said that night.

* * *

"..." said Rude.

"..." said Reeve.

It is going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

Reno did not bother hiding his glee when a guard came to extract him out of the cell. At this moment in time, he'd rather face a firing squad than spending another minute with Cloud Strife.

"Oh, tell me you are here to end my misery," Reno said, purposely directing his eyes at Cloud as he said the word 'misery'.

The armed man obviously was in no mood for jokes. He pulled Reno up by his collar and shoved the gunpoint into his back. "Move."

Reno was directed into another room that seemed to be built like the interrogation room out of a very bad B-movie. His escort shoved him roughly onto a wooden seat and directed a bright light into his eyes.

_Can it get anymore clichéd? _

He sat silently, unfazed by his current predicament like any good Turk would. A few minutes passed before another man entered the room. This man was wearing an ill-tailored suit that looked like it had been stolen off a dead body. He circled Reno like a hawk before taking the seat on the opposite side of the table.

"Mr. Strife...," the man started, "My boss wants to know where your friend is."

"...Strife?" Reno repeated.

"That's your name isn't it? Cloud Strife?"

Reno bit his tongue to stop himself from making a sarcastic comment, "Yes, yes. That's my name...Cloud Strife."

The interrogator crossed his arms in what he perceived to be a threatening gesture. "Tell me about your old friend, Barret Wallace."

"You shot at me, shoved me into a black van and locked me up with the most annoying person in this planet," Reno said, leaning forward and smirking arrogantly, "_Why_ the hell would I tell you anything?"

_BANG!_

The man in the bad suit slammed Reno's face on the table. "Answer the damn question!"

Reno licked his bleeding lips and answered with a leer. "He's dead."

His interrogator's face contorted with anger. He grabbed a fistful of Reno's hair and repeatedly smashed the redhead's face onto the table. Satisfied with his handiwork, he snapped Reno's head backwards and pushed his face as close to Reno. "I am warning you Mr. Strife, my patience is wearing thin."

With his head tilted backwards in that angle, Reno could feel the blood trickling down his broken nose into the back of his throat. He choked and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Fine, I'll tell you. He eloped with some chick from the Honeybee Inn, caught an STD and died."

Reno's comment pushed his interrogator over the edge. Hauling Reno up by his collar, he managed to land a few punches into the redhead's stomach before being interrupted by a sharp trill of a PHS. The man dropped Reno on his stomach and gestured for the other guard to take over.

As he lay on the cold cement floor, Reno knew it was a chance for escape. Employing a trick that he'd learnt many years ago, he closed his eyes and started to count.

* * *

_The boss is a pain in the ass_, the interrogator decided after getting off the phone with his employer. _That's the problem with being a mercenary; you'd unwittingly end up working for a bunch of psycho, power-crazy maniacs who are extremely high maintenance. _

_At least the money is amazing. _

Sighing to himself, he opened the door into the interrogation room to continue on with his business. The subject was still lying on the ground where he'd left him. The interrogator kicked the prone body several times to make the redhead move but to no avail.

"Sir, maybe you hit him too hard," the other guard in the room interjected.

The interrogator started to panic; his boss had told him clearly that everyone had to be brought in alive. "Shut up and check his damn pulse!"

The guard got onto one knee and leaned forward to check as ordered, inadvertently leaving his gun holster exposed. The interrogator opened his mouth to warn him about exposing his arms but when the gunshot went off; he knew it was too late.

The redhead on the ground stared at him, blue eyes glinting murderously, "Don't you ever call me Strife again."

_

* * *

  
_

The gunshot from the inside of the interrogation reverberated in the walls of the empty warehouse. That drew all the guards from outside the holding cells towards the room; they were on high alert.

"Boss!" called out one of the guards while he repeatedly knocked on the locked door. When no one answered, he signaled his colleague and barged into the room. His other friends quickly joined him.

The boss and his bodyguard were lying in a pool of blood, the prisoner nowhere to be seen.

The crack of gunshot caught them all by surprise and when they all turned to face the source, all they saw was a flash of red-hair and a diabolical grin.

Despite the nagging pain in his ribs and nose, Reno felt superhuman.

There is just something about facing possible death that gets him high. As he shot another guard, he grinned; that was what he joined the Turks for.

These mercenaries, although good with their arms are not prepared to deal with surprise attacks. He took them out with relative ease. Collecting weapons from the fallen bodies, Reno's mind quickly formed an escape plan.

* * *

This woman must be insane, Tifa decided. The numerous gunshots did not seem to faze the blonde Turk at all. While Tifa had jumped onto her feet immediately after the first gunshot, Elena had just sat calmly in her corner with a hint of a smile on her lips.

When someone started pounding on their cell door impatiently, Elena finally got up and placed an ear on the cool metal. "Reno, is that you?"

"Elena?" The voice was slightly muffled but was unmistakably Reno.

"Open up!" Elena said, "We are in here!"

There was a moment of hesitation and a calm voice replied, "No."

"No?!" repeated Elena disbelievingly. She pounded on the door angrily. "Reno, this isn't funny! There could be more of them coming. Get us out of here so we can back you up!"

"No."

Elena kicked the door out of frustration and instantly regretted the decision when pain shot up her foot. "Damn it Reno!"

"I'll get you out if you go out on a date with me."

"What?!" The two women in the cell exclaimed in unison.

"Red," Tifa warned, "Stop joking and get us the hell out of here."

There was a scoff outside the door and Reno replied in a tone made Tifa want to punch a hole through the door. "No, not you, babe. I was asking Elena."

Elena scowled. She could almost _see_ the shit-eating grin through the wall. "Reno, you ass! You have to stop threatening girls into dates."

"Not all girls, Elena. Just you."

Despite circumstances, something in Elena's stomach fluttered.

"How _romantic_," Tifa muttered sarcastically.

They could hear more footsteps and voices now and instantly knew that more guards were on their way in. "So what do you say, Laney?" Reno asked, purposely using that nickname that she despised.

"Fine," Elena answered softly.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you," said Reno in a sing-song voice even though Elena knows that he could definitely hear her.

This time, she practically screamed her answer. "FINE, GODAMNIT! Now get us out before we all die."

Tifa grinned secretly. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't impressed by the stunt Reno pulled. It was actually _quite_ romantic.

* * *

"What took you so long?" was the first thing Reeve said to Reno when the door to the cell he shared with Rude opened.

Reno busied himself by passing around guns and ammo before answering with a grin and a brief glance at Elena, "I had some... business to take care of."

When they were armed and ready, Reno started leading them out the door.

"Hang on!" Tifa called out, "What about Cloud?"

"Oh. Damn. Sorry, I forgot," said Reno, not sounding sorry at all.

As they ran back to Cloud's holding cell, Elena whispered conspiratorially into his ear, "You didn't really forget, did you?"

"Heh, that's for me to know and you to find out."

* * *

Cloud paced impatiently in his cell. After Reno was taken out by the big, burly guard, he had heard gunshots and muffled shouting but now it was silent again.

When his cell door creaked open, he jumped into fighting position but nearly let out a sigh of relief when he saw Tifa at the other end.

"Heads up, Strife," Elena said and tossed a gun at him. He caught it easily and grinned crookedly, suddenly feeling like his SOLDIER days. "Still know how to use one of these?"

He answered her question by shooting a guard right in the chest. "Yup."

"And what the hell happened to your face?" he asked rudely when he caught sight of Reno's bruised eyes and bleeding nose.

"No time to explain," said Reno, noticing that more and more enemy reinforcement had arrived, "Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

The bullets were raining on them the moment they stepped out of the compound, coming from all directions. Whether it was pure luck or skill that saved their life, they would never know, but somehow they managed to make their way into a van without a single scratch on them.

"Go! Go!" shouted Reno from the backseat. He'd lost a scuffle with Cloud to be the driver, much to Elena's relief as she was still recovering from Reno's piloting skills.

Cloud put the gear into reverse and hit the accelerator, hard. The car lurched forward and promptly stalled.

"FUCK! Strife, you piece...!" Reno cursed, but never got to finish his sentence as a hail of bullets interrupted him.

The occupants in the van took cover quickly as the back mirror broke into pieces. Rude and Reeve attempted to return fire. Reno cursed again and slapped Cloud's seat, "Move it, Strife."

Cloud started the engines, put the van into first gear and promptly stalled again.

"Godamnit," Elena muttered in frustration from her seat. When the bullets had stopped, she quickly clambered over and plopped herself onto Cloud's lap, taking over the driver's wheel.

"Hey. What the hell...?!" Cloud protested.

"Shut the hell up and stop squirming," Elena ordered through gritted teeth. She attempted to start the van again and this time, managed to it to move.

Once they made their way onto the freeway, Elena floored it, swerving traffic to lose the other van that had trailed them.

When Reno tumbled sideways for the fourth time from all the swerving, he started swearing. "Keep it steady, Laney. I am trying to shoot at those bastards and I can't do it when you are driving like a madwoman."

Elena smiled to herself and swerved again for one good measure.

"Fuckin' hell!"

"Don't call me Laney."


	12. What we have is a failure to communicate

The party had managed to lose their assailants due to a combination of Elena's (crazy) driving skills and the sharpshooting accuracy of the other Turks (even Reeve who will later admit that he had not held a gun in at least a decade).

"Where are we going now?" Tifa asked, noticing that Elena had been driving across the Midgarian plain almost aimlessly.

The blonde woman frowned and after a quick glance in the rear-view mirror, pulled over to a stop. "Good question," she said thoughtfully, "I suggest that we stay out of Midgar for a while until we can figure out what these guys want from us. Suggestions?"

There was a momentary silence while everyone contemplated their options.

A light-bulb went off in Reno's head as he went through the circumstances of their capture and he announced happily in a sing-song voice (partly because he knew it will annoy Elena), "I think I know where to go."

Like clockwork, Elena shot him her famous death glare, "Spit it out then."

Reno ignored her and smirked flirtatiously at Tifa who looked like she was a hair's breadth away from punching him in the face, "Your friend with the gun-arm... where does he live?"

"What's it to you?" Tifa asked warily.

"Well, while Strife here was busy relaxing in our cell, I was getting the crap beaten out of me," Reno stated matter-of-factly, stopping briefly to shoot Cloud a dirty look, "The guys asked for your friends location. What's _that _to you now?"

"Corel," Tifa said quickly as she processed the new information from Reno, "He's in Corel".

Elena sighed and moved to put the van into gear. "Corel it is."

"Um, before everyone gets too carried away, could you please get off my lap?"

* * *

In his lifetime as a miner, eco-terrorist, (co)-saviour of the world and now, mayor of the destitute town of Corel, Barrett Wallace would like to think that he had seen everything. However, he nearly keeled over in surprise when a couple of his oldest friends stepped out of a bullet-hole ridden van with their oldest enemy.

His first instinct when he saw the dark blue suits was to shoot and annihilate. Then, he remembered that he is now supposedly the respected, civilised mayor of Corel so he suppressed the homicidal urge and decided to greet his friends instead (bone-crushing bear hug for Tifa and a manly handshake for Cloud) while completely ignoring the devils in the blue suits.

Reno didn't know whether or not to be offended when _his _presence appeared to have gone unnoticed by the one-armed gun man. Based on their history, he'd expected at least some cursing, maybe even a few welcome gun shots but the only acknowledgement he got was an annoyed grunt.

_Huh. Progress. _

* * *

"You've got to be _shittin' _me!" were the first words of disbelief out of Barrett's mouth after Tifa finished her story.

Reeve decided to capitalise on Tifa's efforts by adding, "And this is why we need a place to lay low so we can conduct our investigation on this matter."

Even though they had _technically _saved the planet together, Barrett just didn't trust the Turk that had spent better part of a year in a Moogle costume beating up on monsters with a giant megaphone. "Which part of 'you've got to be shittin' me' do you not understand?"

Reno, who appeared to have been napping on the couch during the commotion, lifted a lazy eyelid and said smugly, "You forgot about the part where they were totally coming after you."

"What?!"

"Yeah, and you're welcome. I totally misdirected them."

"Oh?" Barrett's tone was almost grateful.

"Told 'em you caught an STD and kicked it."

It took almost everyone present in the room to restrain Barrett from launching himself at Reno; Cloud suddenly found a scuff on the carpet that was fascinating.

* * *

After much negotiation, Barrett finally agreed to let the Turks stay at his Corel house temporarily (Reno was to receive the crappiest bed; the lumpy couch in the basement). No one knows how Tifa did it but Reeve was seriously considering offering her a position in his HR/Marketing department after her conversation with Barrett.

* * *

Elena laid her head on the pillow in relief. She was glad for the downtime even if she had to share a room with a member of AVALANCHE.

She must've been asleep for no longer than ten minutes when she felt something flicking her nose. Instinctively, she reached for her gun under the soft pillow, cocked the safety and turned to face her intruder; this familiar action took less than two seconds.

Instead of a stranger, she found herself face-to-face with a familiar shit-eating grin.

Reno moved to push the gun to the side, "Jeez, 'Laney... this is a bit overkill don't you think?"

"Reno..." Elena muttered while pinching the bridge of her nose; she felt the start of a migraine, "What do you want now?"

"You."

It was then Elena realised how close Reno's face was to hers. As Reno leaned forward, she yelped in surprise and in an attempt to roll away from him, fell off the bed in an undignified manner.

"Ow," was the only thing that she said in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"My bad. Sorry," said Reno in a tone that suggested that he was anything but.

After laughing to his heart's content, Reno eventually offered a hand to Elena who was still busy trying to untangle herself from the confines of the sheets.

"Hey Elena," he said nonchalantly as he watch Elena brush the dust bunnies off herself, "How about we go out for dinner tonight at Gold Saucer?"

"Stop kidding around. I am still pissed off at you for that stupid stunt."

"I'm not. You owe me remember?"

Elena finally agreed with a reluctant sigh, "Ugh. Fine. Let's just get it over and done with."

Reno placed a hand over his heart in mock pain, "Get it over and done with? Why, Elena, does my company disgust you so much?"

She chose not to dignify that with an answer.

* * *

Even though the date with Reno was a sham, Elena was pleased that she has an excuse to play dress-up (no way is she showing up at the Gold Saucer with a scruffy white-shirt and crumpled dress pants). She spent most of her waking hours in her Turks regulation uniform and when she is off-duty, the last thing she wants to do is to put on her nice red dress, make-up and high heels for a night out.

This was how she finds herself browsing through the dress racks in the only department store in Corel with an unlikely shopping buddy.

"What about this one?" Tifa said, holding out a blue dress that looked like it was twenty years out of fashion if the puffed up sleeves were of any indication

Elena made a face and shook her head.

"This?" This time it was a sequined silver dress with ruffles for a hem and now, Elena was suddenly having serious doubts about Tifa's dress sense.

Tifa mumbled something incoherently under her breath (Elena caught the word "tough customer" and nothing else.

In an attempt to pacify the brunette, Elena reached for the first dress she saw and pulled it out without even looking at it. "I think I am going to try this one on."

_Damn, this looks good!_ Elena thought when she studied her reflection in the changing room.

The dress that she had inadvertently picked turned out to be a black, strapless cocktail dress that was simple but yet seemed to complement her figure in the most flattering way possible.

Her self-study was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door and a familiar voice echoing in the confined space. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, am on my way out now," Elena hollered back. With one last look in the mirror, she opened the door.

The reaction from Tifa was unexpected, albeit welcomed, "Damn! This looks good!"

Elena decided to indulge in the moment and did a small twirl. When Tifa gave her a slight nod of approval, Elena knew that the decision was made.

"One more thing though," said Tifa with a grin after the payment went through, "Shoes!"

* * *

Reno was on a lucky streak at the chocobo races. He had arrived a few hours earlier at the tracks to try his hand at earning more gil for his impending dinner with Elena. He was hoping to make enough gil to take her to the fanciest restaurant in Gold Saucer, 'Zen' (the restaurant was so fancy that it only has a one syllable name). It seemed to be the most fitting place to have a first date.

He doesn't really understand why he was going the extra distance for the impending date. In fact, he wasn't even sure if Elena considered it a date (the circumstances that made her agree to it was admittedly dubious).

_Don't overthink this_, his inner mind reminded himand Reno shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was determined to show Elena a good time and it looks like No.7 chocobo was his ticket to do it.

He cheered with the crowd raucously when his chocobo crossed the line and decided that with the winnings that he received, he had enough for dinner and then some.

Checking his watch, he realised that he still had ten minutes to spare and decided to order the most expensive scotch the bar had to offer. He had barely raised his hand when a stunning red-haired woman stepped into his view.

"Hey there. Care to have a drink with me?"

Reno raised an eyebrow lazily and eyed the woman with disinterest. "Not in a mood."

"Not even for a quick drink?"

Another glance at his watch showed that Elena was due to meet him soon. "Fine, one drink and then you get out of my hair."

"We'll see," said the woman cryptically.

Everything went a bit blurry after that.


End file.
